An unmanned spacecraft from Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin did not reach the edge of space as intended on Monday. It was the first time that a Blue Origins New Shepard missile mission failed.
A minute after launch and about five miles above the Earth’s surface, the rocket engines that would carry the capsule containing, among other things, NASA equipment to space suddenly started spinning faster.
This automatically switched on a backup system, freeing the capsule from the failing rocket engines. The capsule landed with a parachute and suffered no damage. The failing engines crashed into a cordoned off site.
The FAA is investigating the failed space flight. Until then, all Blue Origin missiles of this type will be grounded. No injuries were reported, according to Blue Origin.
Previously, the New Shepard rockets also took people to the so-called edge of space, at an altitude of about 100 kilometers. In 2021, Bezos himself was on the first manned flight of the New Shepard missiles. Monday’s flight was the New Shepard’s 23rd mission.